The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Chong Wei resumes training with vigour after CNY break
- Time for Chooi and Ow to shine
- NSC back Nicol’s bid for squash’s inclusion in Olympics
| Chong Wei resumes training with vigour after CNY break Posted: 18 Feb 2013 06:11 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: After a one-week break for the Chinese New Year, world No. 1 shuttler Lee Chong Wei has resumed training at Stadium Juara in Bukit Kiara. National singles coach Tey Seu Bock was as pleased as punch after observing Chong Wei's attitude on the first few days of training. And Seu Bock confidently declared that Chong Wei would be the favourite for the All-England in Birmingham from March 5-10 and that the Malaysian would remain unbeatable in the local badminton scene. He gave the thumbs-up on Chong Wei's serious attitude and discipline during training and he's hoping that others like Liew Daren, Chong Wei Feng and Mohd Arif Abdul Latif, will learn to adopt the same outlook. Out of the three, only Daren had beaten Chong Wei once – at the Indonesian Super League in Jakarta in one of the ties before the Chinese New Year. "Normally, a player will take it easy on the first few days after a long break but not Chong Wei. He ravages the court and has an unwavering focus," said Seu Bock. "Chong Wei is surely showing much greater maturity on court after his marriage. With this positive attitude going into the All-England, I would reckon that he will not make it easy on his opponents at all – despite hitting his 30s." Chong Wei won the prestigious All-England singles title in 2010 and 2011 but last year lost to Lin Dan of China in the final. For this year's edition, Lin Dan has skipped the tournament, leaving the job to spoil Chong Wei's party to his younger comrades – second seed Chen Long and Du Pengyu. "I do not see any of the local players overtaking Chong Wei as long as he is around. Their standard is still quite far behind," said Seu Bock. "In training, Daren, Wei Feng and Arif are still lagging. I wish they can push Chong Wei to the limit and not resign to the fact that they cannot get the better of him. They must try harder to give quality time during training." Currently, all singles players – elite and back-up are training together – and all three coaches Rashid Sidek, Seu Bock and Hendrawan are working together. The back-up players are Iskandar Zulkarnain Zainuddin, Goh Soon Huat, Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub, Loh Wei Sheng, Goh Giap Chin, Tan Kian Meng and Choong Yee Han. "Eventually, we hope the others will start winning titles as well," added Seu Bock. For the record, except for Chong Wei, all the other elite players will be competing in two tournaments in Europe. Daren, Wei Feng and Arif have also been entered for the Swiss Open from March 12-17 in Basel. |
| Time for Chooi and Ow to shine Posted: 18 Feb 2013 06:12 PM PST KUALA LUMPUR: Former world junior boys doubles champions Chooi Kah Ming-Ow Yao Han have not won any badminton titles since coming under the charge of Tan Kim Her but all that could change soon. The promising shuttlers are slated to compete in the Austrian International Challenge starting tomorrow at Vienna and the German Open Grand Prix Gold in Mulheim from Feb 26-March 3. The reigning national runners-up have a better chance to nick the title in Vienna as they are the top seeds. National doubles chief coach Kim Her, however, would be contented if they score at least one upset win each in the Austria and German Open respectively. "In the Austrian Open, they will probably face tough opponents – Bodin Isara-Pakkawat Vilailak of Thailand – in the quarter-finals. This match will be a tricky one as Bodin is a very experienced player," said Kim Her. The other Malaysian pair in the fray in Vienna are 2011 world junior champions Teo Eei Yi-Nelson Heg Wei Keat but they have a challenging path to final. "Kah Ming-Yao Han have been showing marked progress and they did well in last year's National Championships. Hopefully, they can pull off a good win." In the German Open, the duo have been drawn to play against fifth seeds Vladimir Ivanov-Ivan Sozonov of Russia. "I am not looking beyond the first round. The Russians are strong opponents and to me, a win against them will be a bonus," said Kim Her. Currently, Kah Ming-Yao Han are ranked 32nd in the world. Their fast progress as a pair is commendable – especially when Kah Ming was ruled out because of a knee injury for a year in 2011. Five local pairs are ranked ahead of them: World No. 2 Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong (9th), Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem (19th), Gan Teik Chai-Ong Soon Hock (22nd) and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif (23rd). |
| NSC back Nicol’s bid for squash’s inclusion in Olympics Posted: 18 Feb 2013 02:45 PM PST BUKIT JALIL: Squash queen Nicol David's tireless effort to push for the sport's inclusion in the 2020 Olympic Games programme received the thumbs-up from the National Sports Council (NSC). And the government body will continue to support and back Nicol to see her dream of getting squash into the Olympics fullfilled. On Saturday, the six-time world champion Nicol managed to get the support of tennis star Roger Federer to intensify the sport's campaign to get into the Olympics. The endorsement of Federer, winner of 17 Grand Slam titles, came in the wake of International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s decision to drop wrestling from the Games and this has given an opportunity for squash to get included. NSC's elite programme director Ariffin Ghani said Nicol's latest move to get Federer's support was a tremendous boost for her campaign. "Nicol is already an icon in squash but she is also very driven in pushing for squash to be an Olympic sport. We admire her committment," said Ariffin yesterday. "We do hope her dream will come true. Even if she does not get to compete as player in the Games, we hope that she will be able to ensure that the future generation of squash players get to play in the Games. "We are happy that there are few juniors coming through after Nicol and players like Low Wee Wern will surely benefit if the sport makes it. "NSC have been very supportive of squash and we will continue to give our 100% backing." For the record, besides squash, the other sports hoping to get into the Olympic Games programme are karate, wushu, baseball and softball. |
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